National Indoor Football League
National Indoor Football League | |
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Sport | Indoor football |
Founded | 2001 |
No. of teams | 5 |
Country | United States |
Most recent champion(s) | Fayetteville Guard, now with American Indoor Football Association |
Official website | www.niflfootball.com |
National Indoor Football League is a minor league indoor football league that is based in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, af2, however, that changed briefly with their expansion into AFL markets such as Atlanta, Denver, and Los Angeles, as well as af2 markets such as Fort Myers and Houston.
Contents |
History
The NIFL, based in Lafayette, Louisiana, was founded by Carolyn Shiver. The league started operations in 2001, with many teams coming from Indoor Football League being bought the previous year and folding operations. In 2002, the league added in the teams from the Indoor Professional Football League. 2003 was the most successful year for the league as 24 teams played a complete schedule, with no cancellations.
While there have been problems, mainly with expansion teams, the well-run teams success easily outweighed the league's problems. Unfortunately, the league's problems started to show after this point. Before the 2005 season, nine teams left the league to form United Indoor Football. That same year though, the Intense Football League ceased operations and four teams from there joined the league. Those teams however, left the league before the 2006 season started.
The 2006 season, was the most chaotic for the league to that point. Ten expansion teams were added to the league, but nine of them had problems that reflected badly on the league. The most notable situation was the owner of the Montgomery Maulers firing the entire team over pay issues, which got covered in Sports Illustrated and ESPN. None of the ten expansion teams returned to the league for the next season.
After the 2006 season, more than half the league's franchises left for other indoor leagues. In addition to the WIFL, teams left for UIF, the af2, and the AIFA. The NIFL started play in 2007 with 5 franchises from the 2006 and 19 expansion teams. Over half of the scheduled games were cancelled, with many of the expansion teams suspended for the duration of the season.
On May 11, 2007, ten franchises banded together and left the NIFL. These ten teams will play against each other as independents for the remainder of the 2007 season; as a group, their plans for the 2008 season and onwards are unclear.[1].
2008
For 2008, the league plans on reviving the 16 league-owned expansion teams, this time with a new management group to operate the teams. Some of the teams have been sold to outside owners. The league also plans on playing games outdoors.[2]
Current Teams
Atlantic Conference
Pacific Conference
Former Teams
Teams that left the NIFL to join (or plan to join) another league
- Arkansas Stars - planned to join Ultimate Indoor Football League, currently inactive
- Atlanta Thoroughbreds - Future Unknown
- Billings Outlaws - now in United Indoor Football
- Charleston Sandsharks - announced intentions to join World Indoor Football League and American Indoor Football Association, currently inactive
- Cincinnati Marshals - Future Unknown
- Corpus Christi Hammerheads - returned to Intense Football League
- Evansville BlueCats - now in United Indoor Football
- Everett Hawks - now in af2
- Fayetteville Guard - Now in American Indoor Football Association [2]
- Fort Wayne Freedom - joined United Indoor Football, then had assets bought out by Fort Wayne Fusion of af2
- Greenville Riverhawks - now in American Indoor Football Association as Johnstown Riverhawks
- Katy Copperheads - now in af2 as Texas Copperheads
- Lakeland Thunderbolts - now in American Indoor Football Association
- Lexington Horsemen - now in United Indoor Football
- Montgomery Maulers - now in American Indoor Football Association as Montgomery Bears
- Odessa Roughnecks - returned to Intense Football League
- Ohio Valley Greyhounds - now in United Indoor Football
- Omaha Beef - now in United Indoor Football
- Osceola Football - now in World Indoor Football League as Osceola Ghostriders
- River City Rage - now in United Indoor Football
- Rome Renegades - joined American Indoor Football League, then left for World Indoor Football League, but folded before playing a single game there.
- San Angelo Stampede - returned to Intense Football League
- San Diego Shockwave - Announced on their www page on July 24 they are leaving the league
- Sioux City Bandits - now in United Indoor Football
- Sioux Falls Storm - now in United Indoor Football
- Southwest Louisiana Swashbucklers, formerly known as the Lake Charles Land Sharks - joined Intense Football League and shortened their name to Louisiana Swashbucklers
- Tri-Cities Fever - now in af2
- Tri-Valley Ranchers - Future Unknown
- Tupelo FireAnts - joined United Indoor Football, then folded after one season there
- Wyoming Cavalry (Casper, WY) - Officially removed from the league July 5, 2007 [3]
Defunct teams/failed expansion
- Alameda Action
- Atlantic City CardSharks
- Big Sky Thunder
- Billings Mavericks
- Colorado Castle Rocks
- Colorado Venom
- Colorado Wild Riders
- Dallas
- Dayton Bulldogs
- Daytona Beach Hawgs
- Denver Aviators
- Eugene Mercury
- Florida Frenzy
- Fort Myers Tarpons
- Fort Worth Sixers
- Fresno Fury
- Green Cove Lions
- Hattiesburg Playmakers
- Hammond Heroes
- Houma Bayou Bucks
- Houston Wild Riders
- Johnstown J Dogs
- Kissimmee Kreatures
- La Crosse Night Train
- Lincoln Capitols
- Long Beach Muscle Heads
- Los Angeles Diamonds
- Los Angeles Lynx
- Louisiana Bayou Beast
- Louisiana Rangers
- Lubbock Gunslingers
- Lubbock Lone Stars
- Miami Vice Squad
- Mississippi Fire Dogs
- Mobile Muskateers
- Mobile Seagulls
- Myrtle Beach Stingrays
- New Jersey XTreme
- Oklahoma Crude
- Palm Beach Phantoms
- Palm Beach Waves
- Pomona Cool Riders
- Port St. Lucie Mustangs
- Pueblo Pistols
- Rapid City Flying Aces
- River Cities LocoMotives
- River City Renegades
- Sacramento Wildfire
- San Francisco Quakes
- Sarasota Knights
- Show Me Believers
- Southern Oregon Heat
- Staten Island Xtreme
- Tampa Tide
- Tennessee Riverhawks
- Tennessee River Sharks
- Tennessee ThunderCats
- Twin City Gators
- Utah Warriors
- Waco Marshals
- Winston-Salem Energy
- Winston-Salem Wildcats
Indoor Bowl games
Year | Winner | Loser | Score |
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2001 | Mississippi Fire Dogs | Wyoming Cavalry | 55-21 |
2002 | Ohio Valley Greyhounds | Billings Outlaws | 55-52 |
2003 | Ohio Valley Greyhounds | Utah Warriors | 45-37 |
2004 | Lexington Horsemen | Sioux Falls Storm | 59-38 |
2005 | Tri-Cities Fever | Rome Renegades | 47-31 |
2006 | Billings Outlaws | Fayetteville Guard | 59-44 |
2007 | Fayetteville Guard | Wyoming Cavalry | 48-34 |
Note: The 2007 game was named Indoor Football Championship Bowl as it was not an officially sanctioned game by the NIFL and both teams were removed from the league before the game was played.
See also
Notes
- ^ State Of The Marshals, press release, May 11th 2007
- ^ [1]
External links
National Indoor Football League (NIFL) | ||||
Atlantic Conference | Pacific Conference | |||
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Columbia Stingers | Greensboro Revolution | Beaumont Drillers | San Antonio Steers | San Bernardino Bucking Bulls |
National Indoor Football League seasons
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